Every so often I like to get on my bible app on my phone and try to look up a random passage to find some awesome obscure verse or two. This time as I was looking around, I stumbled upon the book of Lamentations, chapter 3. I discovered that there are some really amazing verses in here and just had to share them.
The main idea around these verses is the subject of hope. Hope is a matter of belief. It accounts for something we desire, in most cases something positive. In our lives we all have bad days and bad circumstances that happen. Sometimes situations are just so downright awful and we feel lost and broken. I’ve felt that way before as I’m sure you have as well. Maybe you feel like you’re drowning right now, and you’re not sure if there’s a way out. Well there is, and that is hope; hope in the Lord.
I’m not a scholar, so please correct me if I’m wrong, but what I understand is that the book of Lamentations is about the destruction of Jerusalem. There is much sin and judgement and overall it’s just a mess. I believe Jeremiah is writing this, a poem of lament for his beloved city of Jerusalem. Through all the destruction, Jeremiah says in verse 21 of chapter 3, “Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope.” Because of what is said in the next few verses, he believes that there is a way out. He has a hope in salvation.
Verses 22-25 say, “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.’ The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him.”
Wow, so powerful. Because of God’s love for us, we don’t have to be consumed by the fires of hell or even just consumed by a bad situation. God’s compassion and mercy towards us never fades. Each morning as we awake, God grants us a new day full of His mercy and compassion for us. God is forever faithful to us and will not rescind on His promise of love and mercy. God is everything we need to survive. But He only does this if we have hope in Him. If we actually believe in what He says He will do and actively seek to claim His great love and mercy, we will receive it.
I know when I read that passage I thought of the hymn “Great Is Thy Faithfulness.” Here’s the link to the hymn beautifully sung by Chris Rice:
I would assume that at least part of this hymn was taken from the verses I just posted from Lamentations. This is such a lovely song with comforting lyrics. And as I see it, it all comes back to hope. When we put our hope in the Lord, when we put our belief and desires in Him, He will rescue us.
Lamentations 3 has more verses that I really like, going down to verses 31-33: “For no one is cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone.”
We are all sinners, and as sinners we are cut off from God. But when we ask Him to forgive us our sins and when we put our trust into Him, He welcomes us with open arms and we are no longer outcasts. God loves us so much and does not want us to be lost from Him. One thing I like about these verses is it gives us the truth that we will have affliction and grief. Living on this planet there is no way of getting around that, and God knows it. God doesn’t want to see us hurting or in pain in any way. But because Satan is the ruler of the world, there will be pain and suffering.
Continuing, I lastly found the passage of verses 54-58 which read, “The waters closed over my head, and I thought I was about to perish. I called on your name, Lord, from the depths of the pit. You heard my plea: ‘Do not close your ears to my cry for relief.’ You came near when I called you, and you said, ‘Do not fear.’ You, Lord, took up my case; you redeemed my life.”
It is usually in our darkest moments when we cry for help. When everything is crashing in against us and it feels like there is no escape, what can we do? We can call out to the Lord. We can put our hope in Him. He rescues us from the darkest of our situations. God said, “Do not fear,” so we need not be afraid. Even if everything seems to be falling away and everything good seems to perish, as long as we hope in the Lord there is no need to be afraid. With God’s everlasting love and mercy, we will endure.
I thought of another song called New Hope Generation by Falling Up. The chorus reads as follows: “We’re a new hope generation/We can see the wasted lives in your faces/But we can see Messiah rise in these places/Until the tears are gone” When I read that I take it that now is the time to put our hope in God. We can be the generation that hopes. Though we see there is pain and affliction all around, by hoping we can really see God going to work. God can rid us of our tears as long as we put our hope in Him. Here’s the link to the whole song:
I really like the line “Just hold him close he won’t ever let you go.” It’s so very true. God has promised to love us and forgive us, and He will never back out of that promise. When we choose to put our trust and hope in Him, we will see results. We can get through any situation that life throws at us by putting our hope, our belief, in God’s everlasting promise. God is faithful and true, more so than anyone here in this world. If He says He’ll do something, He’ll do it.
I don’t know what your situation is right now. Maybe you’re filled with joy. Maybe you’re filled with sadness. Or maybe it’s some other sort of emotion. Whatever the case may be, you can always renew or begin a new hope in the Lord. The threat of being consumed by darkness can be replaced by being consumed in God’s love.
As long as we can truly believe that God can save us, and as long as we can truly desire His love and mercy, we will get it. As Deuteronomy 31:8 says, “The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Keeping this in mind, hope in the Lord. For as Jeremiah said, “You redeemed my life.” 🙂
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